A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures

[By Nic Lindh on Wednesday, 12 November 2003]

Playlistism

With the increase of iTunes music sharing on networks, a new form of bigotry is on the rise–playlistism, defined as “discrimination based not on race, sex or religion, but on someone’s terrible taste in music, as revealed by their iTunes music library.”

Intentional and funny hyperbole in the Wired article aside, judging people by their taste in music is a classic scheme. Show me your record collection, and I’ll show you who you are. So playlistism in a way is technology accelerating and diffusing the same process. Plus if you’re on a network with a lot of shared music, it’s just fun to play personality test with an anonymous playlist.

This is also why a lot of bloggers put their music tastes in their blogs, like I do. If somebody’s jamming out to Mariah Carey while cranking out their code, is this really somebody you want to pay attention to?

My music tastes are, of course, impeccable. A scan of my Library will lead anybody to conclude that I am an asset to the human race and should become President. Or something.